Another objective of the research project is to evaluate the efficacy of an adjuvant anti-CSPG4 vaccination therapy in canine patients with malignant melanoma, by relating the survival times of treated patients compared to dogs subjected to the sun standard therapies. Different vaccine protocols and the use of different plasmids were evaluated, one coding for human antigen (hCSPG4) and one coding for chimeric human-dog antigen (HuDoCSPG4).

• Mayayo S. L., Prestigio S., Maniscalco L., La Rosa G., Arico A., De Maria R., Cavallo F., Ferrone S., Buracco P., and Iussich S. - Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan-4: a biomarker and a potential immunotherapeutic target for canine malignant melanoma -  (2011) Vet J 190, e26-30.
• Riccardo F., Tarone L., Iussich S., Giacobino D., Arigoni M., Sammartano F., Morello E., Martano M., Gattino F., Maria R., Ferrone S., Buracco P., Cavallo F. - Identification of CSPG4 as a promising target for translational combinatorial approaches in osteosarcoma - Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2019 11:1758835919855491.
• Tarone L., Barutello G., Iussich S., Giacobino D., Quaglino E., Buracco P., Cavallo F., Riccardo F. - Naturally occurring cancers in pet dogs as pre-clinical models for cancer immunotherapy - Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2019 Jun 20. doi: 10.1007/s00262-019-02360-6. [Epub ahead of print]
• Laver T., Feldhaeusser BR., Robat CS., Baez JL., Cronin KL., Buracco P., Annoni M., Regan RC., McMillan SK., Curran KM., Selmic LE., Shiu KB., Clark K., Fagan E., Thamm DH. - Post-surgical outcome and prognostic factors in canine malignant melanomas of the haired skin: 87 cases (2003-2015) - Can Vet J. 59(9):981-
  987, 2018.
• Piras LA., Riccardo F., Iussich S., Maniscalco L., Gattino F., Martano M., Morello E., Lorda Mayayo S., Rolih V., Garavaglia F., De Maria R., Lardone E., Collivignarelli F., Mignacca D., Giacobino D., Ferrone S., Cavallo F., Buracco P. - Prolongation of survival of dogs with oral malignant melanoma treated by en bloc surgical resection and adjuvant CSPG4-antigen electrovaccination - Vet Comp Oncology 15(3):996-1013, 2017.
• Iussich S., Maniscalco L., Sciuva AD., Iotti B., Morello E., Martano M., Gattino F., Buracco P., De Maria R. - PDGFRs expression in dogs affected by malignant oral melanomas: correlation with prognosis - Veterinary and Comparative Oncolology 15(2):462-469, 2017.
• Boston SE., Lu X., Culp WT., Montinaro V., Romanelli G., Dudley RM., Liptak JM., Mestrinho LA., Buracco P. - Efficacy of systemic adjuvant therapies administered to dogs after excision of oral malignant melanomas: 151 cases (2001-2012) - J Am Vet Med Assoc. 245(4):401-7, 2014.
• Riccardo F., Iussich S., Maniscalco L., Lorda-Mayayo S., La Rosa G., Arigoni M., De Maria R., Gattino F., Lanzardo S., Lardone E., Martano M., Morello E., Prestigio S., Fiore A., Quaglino E., Zabarino S., Ferrone S., Buracco P., Cavallo F. - CSPG4-specific immunity and survival prolongation in dogs with oral malignant melanoma immunized with human CSPG4 DNA - Clin Cancer Res; 20(14); 3753–62, 2014.
• Impellizeri J.A., G. Ciliberto and L. Aurisicchio - Electro-gene-transfer as a new tool for cancer immunotherapy in animals -  (2014). Vet Comp Oncol 12(4): 310-318.
• Riccardo F., Aurisicchio L., Impellizeri J. A.  and Cavallo F.  - The importance of comparative oncology in translational medicine - (2015) Cancer Immunol Immunother 64(2): 137-148.
• Riccardo F., Tarone L., Iussich S. , Giacobino D., Arigoni M., Sammartano F., Morello E., Martano M., Gattino F., Demaria R., Ferrone S., Buracco P., Cavallo F. - Identification of CSPG4 as a promising target for translational combinatorial approaches in osteosarcoma - (2019) Ther Adv Med Oncol, doi: 10.1177/1758835919855491.

• Prof. Federica Cavallo. University of Torino,Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Molecular
  Biotechnology Centre
• Dr. Federica Riccardo. University of Torino,Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, Molecular Biotechnology Centre
• Dr. Paola Modesto. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta
• Dr. Angelo Ferrari. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta